Aberdeen Pins Down Title In Christmas Tournament

Aberdeen had four individual winners and won the team title at the 21st annual John Carroll Christmas Wrestling Tournament last weekend.

The longest-running school-sponsored tournament in the state, the John Carroll Tournament drew eight teams from Harford County, Baltimore County, and the Maryland Scholastic Association for its two-day event, Dec. 14 and 15.

Zack Fowl (103 pounds), Matt Slutzky (135), Danny Orsorio (140) and Todd Jones (145) won individual titles for the Eagles, who placed six wrestlers in the finals. The Eagles landed a wrestler in the top four in nine of the 13 weight classes.

The Aberdeen team -- three-time state Class 1A-2A defending champ and currently ranked No. 8 by the Maryland State Wrestling Association -- picked up 166.5 points to beat second-place Perry Hall's 156.

Edgewood was third with 123 points followed by Overlea, 110.5; John Carroll, 100; St. Paul's, 77.5; Bel Air, 74; and Boys' Latin, 48.

In the 103-pound class, Fowl, a sophomore runner-up in Harford County last year, pinned Edgewood's Ty Long, the defending county champ, in 4:28.

At 112 pounds, Overlea's Kevin Heid took the title. Edgewood's Minh Dang took third place with a 9-0 victory over Jason Brown, of Perry Hall.

Birth won the 119-pound championship on a technical fall over Marcel Ysern, of Perry Hall. John Carroll's Brian Van Poppel took third place with a dramatic overtime victory over Todd Lowe, of St. Paul's. Although the two were tied after five minutes, Van Poppel won 20-6 in overtime.

Bunker, an Edgewood senior, decisioned John Carroll's Tom Scannell, 4-3, in the 125-pound weight class. Steve Stallard, of Aberdeen, took third place, 7-2, over Wade King, of Overlea.

At 130, Kocur decisioned Andy Schnydman, of St. Paul's, 7-5.

Two-time state and county champ Slutzky, an Aberdeen junior, beat John Carroll's Andy DeMonte, on a technical fall. Slutzky is ranked No. 1 at 135 pounds by the Maryland State Wrestling Association.

At 140 pounds, Orsorio, ranked second by the MSWA, decisioned Perry Hall's Jehwan Yeon, 9-4, to win the title. Will Weckel, of John Carroll, pinned Overlea's Greg Reed for third place.

In the 152-pound division, two-time county champ Spurlin beat Bel Air junior Rob Smallwood, 10-4. Smallwood won the county title at 145 last year. Greg Taylor, of Perry Hall, decisioned Aberdeen's Scott Johnson, 3-0, for third place.

Perry Hall's Steve Amenta won the 160-pound title with a technical fall over Mike Taylor, of Aberdeen, in 59 seconds. Bryan Bornfriend, of Boys' Latin, defeated George Moore, of John Carroll, 7-3, for second place.

Perry Hall got its second title from Jeff Peach in the 189-pound division. Peach decisioned John Carroll's Jake Hollin, 7-1, for the championship. Aberdeen's Everett Jones, who lost to Peach, 6-1, in the semifinal beat Overlea's Jim Bennett, 13-4, to take third place.

Overlea's John Swigart won the heavyweight title. Swigart beat Edgewood's John Lamancusa in the semifinals. Lamancusa ended up in fourth-place. St. Paul's Troy Thinglestad beat the Rams junior on a technical fall in the consolation.